


Impact

by kingseijuro



Series: One Shots [3]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst and Tragedy, Blade of Marmora Keith (Voltron), Blood and Gore, Character Death, Gen, Grief/Mourning, Heavy Angst, Implied Sheith, Self-Sacrifice, Violence, Violent Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-08
Updated: 2018-11-08
Packaged: 2019-08-20 13:49:56
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,086
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16556951
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kingseijuro/pseuds/kingseijuro
Summary: Keith sacrifices himself to save everyone in Naxcela.





	Impact

Warmth, that's what Keith blacked out to. The bright flash of light that blinded him even with his eyelids closed, his name being screamed through static then a crash. The error sirens that blared in the cockpit when he came close to impact. The sudden heave of his chest once he realized what he was doing, once he realized it was too late to turn back. 

 

Panic. Then, there was nothing.

 

It was over so quick. Suddenly Keith couldn't hear anything, or feel anything. But a dull light broke past the thin skin of his eyelids, him slowly blinking them apart to be surrounded by various shades of purple. It looked like he wasn't sitting on anything, but he wasn't falling either. The transparent surface was a sturdy and firm foundation. 

 

Keith immediately jumped to a stand in a panic. The unfamiliarity was too much-- he wasn't sure where he was. Did he survive? There's no way. He heard an explosion, the faint memory rumbling in his eardrums. It was too loud not to be true. But why was he still standing? Alive? 

 

No, he didn't feel alive. But he didn't feel dead either. 

 

———

 

Shiro wasn't sure what he felt when he heard the news. He was numb, heart feeling like it stopped and maybe he was dead as well. But he wasn't. He was still alive and well, while Keith was gone, corpse in a million pieces floating through deep space and mixing with debri. Blood frozen then shattered during the collision. Nothing to bury, nothing to find and possibly save. 

 

 _He was gone_. 

 

“Did the shield break because of Keith or Lotor?” Shiro's voice came out as a breath, raspy as it rumbled through his sore throat. He could almost taste blood, the sick reminder making his brain feel numb. 

 

“Shiro, y--” Matt was quick to put a comforting hand on Shiro's shoulder. He looked at the paladin with a sad, worried tint that swam in his iris’. 

 

“Matt, please, tell me,” Shiro interrupted his friend quickly, hands curled in a tight fist. His knuckles turned white from the pressure, tears falling freely down his armor and soaking into the black suit underneath. The fabric darkened at the contact. He refused to make eye contact with Matt, blurry vision concentrated on the floor. 

 

“I… I-I don't know,” once Matt spoke, the black paladin lifted his head and made his way back into his lion, ignoring everyone's pleas to stay. “S-Shiro, wait!”

 

Shiro was too numb to even concentrate on the words, brain scrambling to make sense of them. But he quickly gave up trying, too lost in his sorrow as a shuddered breath made his lips quiver. 

 

The climb up the six small steps in the lions mouth felt more like six flights, everything seemingly slower as he made his way into the cockpit of the lion. Gravity pulled him into his seat, body heavy at the thought of being alive, a heavy mass able to move freely. 

 

 _Unlike Keith_. 

 

Shiro gritted his teeth at the thought, ignoring the small beep telling him to buckle his seatbelt as he gripped the steering handles tightly. He turned his wrist and pushed the handles forward, lion growling before flying out of the castle and into space. 

 

Shiro took a deep, shuddered breath that shook out of his ribcage, shoulders trembling as he gripped the lions handles tighter. A sob broke out of his throat, making the flesh burn more as the sound vibrated the column. Hiccups soon mixed with the sobs that filled the air of the cockpit. The black lion floated meaninglessly in the crisp atmosphere of space. 

 

“K-Keith…” the black paladin choked out in a tangle of sobs. A warm hand soon rested on his armor and it made Shiro freeze, hesitantly turning his head to see nothing.

 

_It must be a fever dream._

 

Shiro then blinked away some of the salty tears that sat on his waterline. His vision slowly faded back, the sudden overwhelming amount of light blinding him and causing him to stumble back as he closed his eyes and raised his arms to shield them. 

 

He was standing, but he didn't remember standing up from his seat. But he also didn't remember the lights of the black lion being this bright. 

 

He slowly blinked his eyes to adjust to the light, vision soon focusing on what surrounded him. All he could see was a mixture of various purples, brightly reflecting off of the transparent surface Shiro was standing on. The paladin looked around in a panic, soon coming to a halt as he froze. It was almost like he saw a ghost, skin paling and goosebumps forming on the flesh. 

 

He did see a ghost. 

 

“K-Keith, I--” The words tumbled out of Shiro's mouth, soon coming to a halt in a choke. 

 

“Shiro,” Keith's voice was weak as it lingered past his lips. His steps were silent, seemingly weightless, as he made his way over to Shiro. It was only then that Shiro noticed something strange about the Blades member. He was transparent, cuts and bruises all over his body. Thick blood oozed out of the cuts and covered previously dried on patches of the crimson. But the wounds didn't seem to faze Keith at all. “Is everyone okay? Did the shield break?” 

 

It took a minute for Shiro to find his voice, gulping even though his mouth was dry. “Yeah… Everyone's okay. You did it, Keith.”

 

Keith sighed in relief at that, pupils moving down to stare at the transparent floor. Shiro slowly took a step closer to Keith, hand shaking as he laid it on his shoulder. 

 

It was solid. 

 

He half expected his hand to fall straight through Keith, but it didn't. He felt alive. It was nerve-wracking for Shiro. He wasn't sure what was going on, but Keith seemed to live in another world.  

 

But Keith was here, in front of him. And that's all that mattered. 

 

“Where are we?...” Shiro looked around slightly, refusing to let Keith out of his sight. He was afraid Keith would slip away again if he couldn't see him. 

 

“I don't know,” Keith was still staring at the ground. He had a lot to say, and Shiro could tell with one glance. What was holding him back? 

 

“You can talk to me, Keith.”

 

The smaller man took a deep breath that hitched in his chest before looking back up at Shiro, deep violet eyes swimming with pain. 

 

“I died, Shiro.”

 

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt fill for the lovely @SomeGoodSheith on Tumblr and AO3!
> 
> If you want to write something, send it in my Tumblr ask box!
> 
> https://kingseijuro.tumblr.com


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